June 30, 2015, 14:37 / Business

Mechel held a meeting of shareholders

One of the most heavily indebted metallurgical companies in Russia re-elected the board of directors and approved dividends on preferred shares Vitaly Petleva Mechel held an annual meeting of shareholders / D. Grishkin / Vedomosti

is now Mechel negotiating with the three largest creditors on loan restructuring. In total, Mechel owes creditors $6.77 billion, of which the company owes VTB Bank $1.15 billion, Sberbank - $1.36 billion, and Gazprombank - $2.00 billion. The company managed to reach an agreement on debt restructuring with the two largest creditors - Gazprombank and VTB. “We continue negotiations with Sberbank and intend to reach a compromise by the end of summer,” said the company’s general director Oleg Korzhov during a teleconference.

Today at 15.58 Moscow time the annual meeting of shareholders of one of the most debt-ridden Russian metallurgical companies - Mechel (total debt of $6.77 billion) ended. The turnout was 61%, a quorum was reached, a representative of the registrar stated. The meeting was chaired by Mechel CEO Oleg Korzhov.

Mechel agreed on debt restructuring with VTB and Gazprombank

The company continues negotiations with Sberbank and expects to “reach a compromise”

Unlike last year, shareholders were invited to a smaller hall, on the second floor at 1 Krasnoarmeyskaya Street. If last year they were seated at a round table together with the general director, now only Mr. Korzhov is sitting at the table. The shareholders themselves are in a makeshift hall and on sofas around the edges.

By the beginning of the meeting, there were 32 shareholder representatives and 1 copy of the annual report in accordance with RAS in the hall, as well as information on nominees to the board, also in one copy. However, the documents did not interest the meeting participants. Most of them read the agenda. There are no more than 15 shareholders left by the time the results are announced.

Previously on the topic: Gazprombank may buy out Mechel’s debt to Sberbank

Following the results of the annual meeting, shareholders approved the board of directors. Nine candidates were nominated for nine council seats. There were no changes in composition compared to the previous council. Shareholders (51.2% accounted for Igor Zyuzin and 16.22% for his family) voted to elect independent board members Arthur Johnson, Vladimir Gusev, Yuri Malyshev and Igor Kozhukhovsky, as well as Igor Zyuzin, Oleg Korzhov, Vladimir Korovkin to the board of directors , Victor Trigubko and Alexey Ivanushkin.

In addition, shareholders approved the payment of dividends - 6.9 million rubles. on preferred shares so that they are not converted into voting shares and the share of the main shareholders is not diluted. Last year, one of the owners of ordinary and preferred shares, the Arsagera company, tried to challenge this decision in court, but failed.

Some shareholders interrupted the meeting several times and expressed dissatisfaction that dividends were not paid on ordinary shares, but dividends were paid on preferred shares. Mechel's chief lawyer, Irina Ipeeva, citing court decisions, proved to them that such a decision by the company was legal, and the meeting continued.

VTB agreed to restructure Mechel's debt

For this, the bank demands an increase in guarantees and repayment of 4.5 billion rubles of overdue debt

According to him, the company signed specific agreements with VTB and Gazprombank some time ago and now Mechel and the banks are working on new loan documentation. At the same time, Mechel initially expected to come to an agreement with Sberbank by June, Korzhov said, but this was not possible. “But we have an understanding of where and why to move. By the end of summer, we will find a compromise option and reach a debt restructuring with Sberbank,” he noted.

Earlier on the topic: Mechel is ready to part with its stake in Elga

Gazprombank is also discussing the possibility of buying out Mechel’s debt to Sberbank, Gazprombank Chairman Andrei Akimov said today after a meeting with Mechel co-owner Igor Zyuzin. Akimov's words are reported by Interfax. The bank is considering the possibility of partially buying out Mechel's debt. "We are thinking. Maybe partially - we are looking for flexible options,” Akimov answered a question from an Interfax correspondent about the possibility of a deal.

Meanwhile, today is the last day for Mechel, when the company must pay overdue interest payments (about 3 billion rubles) to VTB Bank. Otherwise, the bank will not agree to restructure the company’s debt by 70 billion rubles, postponing payments until 2018–2019. VTB Chairman of the Board Andrey Kostin spoke about this condition. “If not, then we return to the judicial procedures that we postponed but did not cancel,” Kostin said.

Earlier on the topic: Mechel lost 3 billion rubles to VTB

On April 7, VTB received the legal right to file for bankruptcy of Mechel; a month before this, VTB published a message in the Kommersant newspaper about its intention to bankrupt Mechel. This gave him the right to file a bankruptcy claim for the company within 30 days. On March 17, a meeting took place between the owner of 51.2% of Mechel, Igor Zyuzin, and VTB President Andrei Kostin. They agreed that the company would pay the bank overdue interest payments on the loan, as well as fines and penalties amounting to 4.5 billion rubles, Vedomosti sources said.

Yesterday, at the close of the banking day, Mechel's debt to VTB had not been repaid, a bank representative said.